Mikel Arteta railed against the officials’ decision to award Sunderland a penalty against Arsenal despite his side going on to win the match 2-0.
Sunderland won a penalty early in the second half after defender Ezri Konsa was deemed to have fouled Dan Ballard during a corner. The referee Stuart Atwell pointed to the spot and his decision was checked and ratified by VAR.
Starting from this season, referees have been asked to pay greater attention to grappling and shoving in the box during corners.
“He’s all over him at the near post facing the wrong way,” Atwell said of Konsa during the incident.
Read more:Bukayo Saka scores as Arsenal beat Aston Villa in tight affair
However, the Black Cats were unable to press their advantage with Enzo Le Fée’s penalty being brilliantly saved by David Raya. A couple of minutes later, Arsenal took the lead through Bruno Guimarães’ strike from outside the box.
The Gunners sealed their win in injury time through a Bukayo Saka penalty but Arteta wasn’t in a celebratory mood post-match.
“It’s a huge win, but it could’ve been something very different. They [the referees] could have changed the game,” he told TNT Sports.
Read more:Japan captain Wataru Endo out of World Cup with injury, announces international retirement
When asked if he was talking about the penalty incident, he said: “Yes. It is unacceptable at this level. Unacceptable.
“This can change the course of the season, the championship. I’ve watched it 10 times to make sure.
“The 27 years I’ve been in football, it’s not a penalty in any case, in any context, at any level, in any league. I watched it live, and I thought it was not possible to make this kind of decision for a penalty, because it’s a judo roll, that’s what it is. It cannot happen.”
